Follow up: the mathematics meetup now has a few events scheduled: on Tuesday January 22nd, a MathJam, which is a conversational event where people can chat, discuss problems, ask for help, etc.; a book club on Thursday January 31st, reading "The Best Writing on Mathematics 2011"; and two lectures in March and April. One member is preparing a talk; I'm still looking for a venue for that.

Also, I'm trying to get a science book club in Bowie, Maryland off the ground. Our first book will be "Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus", by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, and we'll be meeting in the evening on Wednesday January 30th.

We're about:

I am a software engineer with a background in Physics and interest in all the sciences to help make me a better writer and I would like to have extra motivation to read science-related books and discuss them outside of work. These wouldn't be textbooks, they would be more "popular science" that are educational and entertaining as well! Authors will include Richard Dawkins, Natalie Angier, E.O. Wilson, Carl Sagan, and Rachel Carson among others. There are many of these that have been on my "to-do" list for a long time.

Of course scientists, engineers and teachers of science would be great for this group, because we could talk about our jobs too. But anyone who is interested in science reading is welcome!! No prior science knowledge is necessary, I promise.

The books chosen for this group are 65% life science, sociology and environmental science books. Some books, such as by Bill Bryson and Carl Sagan, include some chemistry and/or physics, but we will not be reading many books that only pertain to physical science or mathematics. We will try to keep books of this nature to about 2 to 3 a year.